Shelves and the like have conventionally been supported on slotted uprights by utilizing brackets which employ a plurality of vertically spaced, L-shaped hooks which project through a plurality of spaced slots in the upright. This basic bracket-upright arrangement cooperates in a desirable manner to provide both strength and convenience of assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,542, owned by the Assignee of this application, illustrates therein a bracket arrangement of the aforementioned type for permitting a furniture component to be mounted in a cantilevered relationship adjacent the vertical face of a wall panel, which panel has slotted uprights adjacent the opposite vertical edges thereof for cooperation with brackets which are secured to and project rearwardly from the furniture component adjacent opposite ends thereof. The bracket arrangement of the aforementioned patent additionally incorporates a locking element which is formed as a cantilevered spring and which engages one of the slots in the upright when the bracket is properly seated so as to prevent accidental dislodgement of the bracket from the upright.
While the arrangement of the aforementioned patent has been extensively utilized and proven to perform in a highly satisfactory manner, nevertheless this prior arrangement, together with many other conventional bracket arrangements of this general type, have still possessed features which have been less than optimum. For example, when bracket arrangements of the aforementioned type are provided adjacent opposite ends of the furniture component for cooperation with a pair of parallel slotted uprights, the brackets are conventionally fixedly secured to and project rearwardly of the component and hence have a predetermined sideward spacing therebetween. The slotted uprights similarly have a predetermined sideward spacing therebetween inasmuch as they are fixedly associated with opposite edges of a wall panel. Due to the narrowness of the slot into which the hooks on the brackets project, however, it has been discovered that in some instances it is difficult to properly align the brackets on opposite ends of the component with the pair of slotted uprights. Due to standard manufacturing tolerances, coupled with other variations such as load distortion and the like, it is sometimes difficult to mount the component on the panel due to the inability to properly align the sidewardly spaced brackets with the slots in the sidewardly spaced uprights.
In addition, prior furniture components employing brackets of this type have generally not only had the brackets rigidly secured thereto in relationship to the housing of the component, but in addition the bracket arrangement has typically employed a pair of separate upper and lower bracket members associated with each end of the component for cooperation with the respective slotted upright. These separate bracket members are generally rigidly secured to the component, as by screws, and hence the use of two separate brackets at each end of the component not only increases the number of parts and hence the manufacturing and assembly complexity, but also increases the tolerance variations and hence possible misalignment problems.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved hanger bracket arrangement for a furniture component which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages and which greatly facilitates the mounting of the furniture component on a pair of slotted uprights as associated with a wall structure.
More specifically, in the present invention there is provided an improved bracket arrangement which includes a pair of hanger brackets which mount adjacent the opposite ends of a furniture component and which project rearwardly thereof for engagement with a pair of sidewardly-spaced slotted uprights. One of the hanger brackets (and preferably both) has capability of limited sideward displacement relative to the component and relative to the other hanger bracket so as to permit the sideward spacing of the hanger brackets to be easily slightly varied during mounting of the component on the uprights so as to facilitate the mounting procedure.
A further object is to provide an improved bracket arrangement, as aforesaid, which employs a bracket which is formed substantially as a cantilever spring plate so as to permit the rearward hook portion of the bracket to be normally maintained in a selected position relative to the component while at the same time permitting limited resilient deflection thereof in either sideward direction to facilitate engagement of the bracket with the slotted upright.
A still further object is to provide an improved bracket arrangement, as aforesaid, which includes a single bracket member constructed of a thin sheetlike metal plate associated with each end panel of the furniture component, with each bracket member having vertically spaced upper and lower parts which are integrally associated with the same plate and cooperate with the same slotted upright, with this bracket plate also having an integral locking structure associated therewith intermediate the upper and lower bracket parts for engagement with the slotted upright when the bracket member is properly seated thereon to prevent accidental dislodgement.
Still a further object is to provide an improved bracket arrangement, as aforesaid, which is particularly desirable for use with a cabinet-type furniture component constructed of thin sheetlike metal plates since the bracket member can be similarly formed from a single such plate and then secured, as by spot welding, to the metal plates defining the end panels of the component. The improved arrangement of this invention provides for economical manufacture and assembly of the component, and provides increased ease of mounting the component on a wall panel.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with structures of this general type upon the reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.